A new law review article argues that government secrets can be usefully distinguished in terms of “depth”– i.e. “how many people know of their existence, what sorts of people know, how much they know, and how soon they know…. Attending to the depth of state secrets can make a variety of conceptual and practical contributions to the debate on their usage. The deep/shallow distinction provides a vocabulary and an analytic framework with which to describe, assess, and compare secrets, without having to judge what they conceal.” See “Deep Secrecy” by David Pozen, Stanford Law Review, forthcoming.
A new book revisits the case of Frank Olson, the Army biochemist who fell to his death in 1953 after having been unwittingly dosed with LSD in a CIA experiment. “A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA’s Secret Cold War Experiments” by H.P. Albarelli Jr. was published this month by TrineDay, which says it “specializes in releasing books that are shunned by mainstream publishers due to their controversial nature.”
Closed child welfare hearings in the District of Columbia Family Court should be opened up, argued law professor Matthew I. Fraidin in recent testimony before the D.C. Council. Open hearings would promote improved protection for the children, increased professionalism by the adult participants, and greater accountability all around, he said. See “Opening Child Welfare Proceedings in the Family Court of the District of Columbia,” November 4, 2009.
The United States’ biosecurity governance system is structurally incapable of detecting and responding to certain classes of threats. U.S. biosecurity tools have not kept pace with technological advancements or a changing threat landscape.
The United States has never lacked for scientific ambition. What we need now is a renewed civic commitment to ensuring that talent is harnessed for the benefit of all people. Science can work for everyone. Join us as we build a broader coalition committed to that vision.
The United States federal government invests nearly $150 billion annually in research and development. However, the supporting evidence generates wildly different estimates depending on the methods and available data.
The digital government field has an opportunity to build a more responsive and resilient government by pushing into new frontiers, with new tools, approaches, and even organizations that don’t exist yet. This is the time for radical experimentation, delivery, and exploration.